QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 5.0ml

63 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 5.0 earthquake was recorded 63 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico, at 7:48 am AST on 17 November 2022 (11:48 UTC), 4.0 km deep. 101 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

· 4.0 km deep · released about 480 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 64 kmIsabela Municipio 68 kmQuebradillas Municipio 74 kmAguada Municipio 74 kmMoca Municipio 77 kmRincón Municipio 78 kmCamuy Municipio 80 kmHatillo Municipio 84 kmAñasco Municipio 85 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
Magnitude
M 5.0 (ml)
Depth
4.0 km below the surface
Felt
101 reports · strongest reported intensity VII
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 64 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 740 days ago

This was a moderate earthquake. Shaking at this size can damage poorly built structures close to the epicentre.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 193 km (120 mi) from the epicentre. Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 480 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 6.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 350× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 5.0 about 480 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1,000× more

Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 6.0 on 2019-09-24 — about 32 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 19 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.7 45 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 23 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 39 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 6.8 94 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 46 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 48 km SSW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 46 km SSE of this epicentre

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Epicentre 19.0370, -67.2915. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 64 km (40 mi) SSE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 68 km (42 mi) SSE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 74 km (46 mi) SSE earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 74 km (46 mi) S earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 77 km (48 mi) SSE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 78 km (48 mi) S earthquakes near Rincón Municipio

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

44 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 4.2 80 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.0 40 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.0 25 km NNE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.3 82 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.4 Mona Passage
  6. 3.4 44 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.3 59 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.3 52 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.2 41 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.4 48 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.5 44 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.1 38 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.2 98 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.1 Mona Passage
  15. 3.4 40 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.